Tagged: endangered species act

Wolverines could gain federal protection under the Endangered Species Act by year’s end.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife service has announced a proposal to list the wolverine as a threatened species. This is in response to a lawsuit settlement with several conservation organizations, after the FWS determined that wolverines deserve protections, but had been precluded because of higher priority species.

A second group of conservation organizations is suing the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service for removing Wyoming wolves from the Endangered Species List. One lawsuit was already filed several weeks ago. The new suit has the same goal, which is to reinstate federal protections for wolves.

Wyoming has promised to maintain at least 150 wolves and 15 breeding pairs. But Duane Short with the Laramie-based Biodiversity Conservation Alliance says that’s not enough.

A consortium of environmental groups are suing the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service for removing Wyoming wolves from the Endangered Species List.

Now that federal protections have ended, Wyoming controls wolf management. The state’s plan allows the animals to be shot on sight throughout most of the state. In northwest Wyoming, there’s a limited hunting season, and the animals are protected for the rest of the year.

But Andrew Wetzler with the Natural Resources Defense Council says those protections won’t maintain a viable wolf population.